Monitoring and managing material flow through a passageway at different check points in the passageway in real time for conditioning of seeds, for example, can increase operating efficiency and can improve profitability. However, no seed meter is available that meets the criteria of minimum damage to seeds, accuracy of measurement, cost effectiveness, and the feasibility of physical installation for retrofitting the flow meter in existing operations.
Existing devices have limitations in many areas, e.g., they draw a sample from the flow and measure the flow rate according to the weight per unit of time; or they employ a moving mechanism (belt or auger) to move the product and weigh the moving device with the product loaded thereon. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,423,456; 4,788,930; and 4,765,190 are illustrative of this method. Other devices measure the pressure, displacement or impact due to the force generated by the product flow (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,157,661; 4,440,029; 5,335,554, and 4,637,262). Similar problems arise if the flowable material is a liquid.
Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a method of measuring flow rate of flowable material, including particulate material or liquids under continuous flow conditions, and an in-line continuous flow meter which is accurate, non-damaging to the material, easily adaptable to existing flow ways, cost effective, and gravity operated without moving mechanisms.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.